


stay stay stay

by xuxikr



Series: nightlight [3]
Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Parents, Domestic Fluff, Jaemin Overthinking, Light Angst, M/M, Miscommunication, Parent-Child Relationship, Slice of Life, Unsafe Sex, kid!jisung, they get a cat
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-12
Updated: 2020-08-12
Packaged: 2021-03-05 19:15:33
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 15,259
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25800454
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/xuxikr/pseuds/xuxikr
Summary: It’s beena whilesince the both of them didit.So it’s not surprising that simply just making out has them all hot and bothered. No matter how much they crave it, there’s just far more important things to handle now than their libidos. There’s always a next time anyway.
Relationships: Huang Ren Jun/Na Jaemin
Series: nightlight [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1876573
Comments: 7
Kudos: 229





	stay stay stay

**Author's Note:**

  * For [jangmanwol](https://archiveofourown.org/users/jangmanwol/gifts).



> *that surprise bet you thought you seen the last of me meme*
> 
> I'm back with the third installment of my renminsung family au! To get a better grasp of the context, I suggest you read the first two fics where some events from there happened before this fic! 
> 
> \- ['turn on your favorite nightlight'](https://archiveofourown.org/works/20428712)  
> \- ['once bitten and twice shy'](https://archiveofourown.org/works/21956833)
> 
> Have fun reading!

“Here’s his bag.” Renjun strides over from the kitchen after packing Jisung’s lunch box. Jaemin looks over his shoulder, sending a smile Renjun’s way as he accepts the backpack and helps Jisung sling it over his shoulders.

“You good to go, sweetheart?” He kneels down so that he’s eye level with Jisung, the seven-year-old is pouting at his shoes as he nods his head.

Renjun puts a hand over Jaemin’s shoulder at the child’s expression, and squeezes there. Jaemin holds Renjun’s hand and rubs Jisung’s arm with the other. “What’s wrong, Jisungie?”

Since the first day of his classes yesterday, Jisung has had an obvious mood shift towards school. He’d been excited yesterday, bouncing up and down on his feet at the prospect of going back to school and starting second grade. But the moment he came home from school, Jisung has been down.

They tried to lift his mood up by having his favorite food for dinner and promising to make his favorite food for tomorrow’s lunch too but Jisung’s mood hasn’t changed. They tried to talk to him about it, but Jisung won’t budge and wallowed in his own sadness.

It’s worrying.

Jaemin and Renjun have been worried sick over Jisung since last night, but now with Jisung still like this even in the morning, they’ve both grown more worried.

“Are the new kids mean to you?” Renjun prompts, kneeling down beside Jaemin and taking Jisung’s hand in his. Their biggest fear with Jisung going to school has hints of being materialized, and Renjun knows how much Jaemin fears this. He’s slightly relieved that Renjun is here with him now.

Renjun has helped Jaemin build a home full of love. It’s true that since day one, it’s been the home he’s been trying to build, with solid foundations and with strong walls that Jisung can grow in. He has raised Jisung with all of his love, but putting Renjun into the picture, he has decorated their little home with even more love.

It’s an environment where Jisung doesn’t have to be afraid of opening up, doesn’t have to be afraid of one of them erupting into anger when he makes a mistake. It’s safe, it’s warm—it’s everything that has always been Jaemin’s idealized version of a home.

And, really, he has never been happier.

But with Jisung starting second grade, Renjun finally settling into his workplace and his own work demanding more time from him—it’s all been an adjustment period for them. Now, add Jisung’s school worries on top of it all, he wonders if they’ll be able to maintain the home they’ve built.

“It’s nothing.” Jisung murmurs, pulling his hand away from Renjun as he moves to put his shoes on. “Just… school things. The kids aren’t mean… just…”

“You can tell us everything, Jisungie.” Jaemin has fully sat down on the floor now, his legs crossed over the other as they watch Jisung put his shoes on.

Jisung chews on the inside of his cheeks, and Renjun puts a hand over Jaemin’s knee. He doesn’t know if their saddest fear will come true with what Jisung is about to say, but Jaemin braces himself for it anyway.

After all, if the thought of it is already hard for them, who knows how harder it has been for Jisung?

Jisung exhales as he ties his shoelaces together. Straightening up his jacket, he exhales through his nose then speaks. “It’s just… I thought Chenle will be my classmate this year too but he’s at a different class. Which just _doesn’t_ make any sense!”

Renjun and Jaemin take a moment to look at each other, their fear creeping away as soft smiles come into their features instead.

Renjun pulls Jisung towards him. “Is that why you’ve been upset?”

Jisung is pouting now, his round lips jutting out. Exactly like how Jaemin would when he is. “Yeah… the other kids are nice, you know? But they’re not Chenle. I only want to play with Chenle.”

“Jisungie,” Jaemin calls, “I know Chenle is your bestest friend in the whole world, but it doesn’t hurt if you try to make friends with the other kids, right? More friends make the world more fun!”

For Jaemin, who’s always been gregarious since childhood, he finds it easy to communicate and connect even with strangers. He can see why Jisung may have trouble with it though, and he wants to do all his can to be able to help Jisung in any way possible.

“How about this, what if I ask Chenle’s dad if we can arrange a playdate this weekend? So that your first week of school can end on a happy note?” Renjun offers.

Jisung visibly perks up at that, his head and chest lifting up as he hears Renjun’s words. He nods, jumping on the balls of his feet. “Of course! Yes!”

“But,” Jaemin interjects, causing both Renjun and Jisung to pay attention to him, “you have to try and make friends too, with the other kids. Can you promise appa and baba that?”

Jisung looks apprehensive at first, looking at Renjun for help as if Renjun will invoke his powers to make Jaemin retract that statement. But Renjun only shrugs with a small smile, cocking his head back to Jaemin.

With a huff, Jisung pouts again. “Fine, but only _one_ friend. Chenle is still my best friend.”

“Of course, baby.” Jaemin says as he leans forward to press a kiss to the top of Jisung’s head. “One is better than none, having another friend doesn’t have to mean that Chenle won’t be your best friend anymore.”

“Okay.” Jisung says dejectedly and Renjun interrupts the moment to remind them of the time. Hurriedly this time, Renjun and Jaemin each slip into their slippers, take Jisung’s hands in theirs and lock the apartment door behind him.

They descend down the building, and they arrive just in perfect timing for when Jisung’s school bus pulls into the stop. They kiss Jisung goodbye and remind him of his promise, remind him to finish his lunch and share with his new friend and with Chenle too, if he wants. Jisung promises and rushes into his bus, where Chenle has already saved a spot for him.

They wave him off, arms wrapped around each other.

Jaemin looks at Renjun, who’s watching the bus disappear to the next block. “What are you thinking of?”

Renjun hums. “Do you think he’ll be okay?”

Jaemin rubs Renjun’s waist where he’s holding him. He leaves a quick kiss on Renjun’s cheek and Renjun groans playfully, hitting him on the shoulder. “He will be, he has us.”

Dating Renjun again after everything that has happened between them in all these years has been a process of relearning and learning new things about each other.

Which, really, he isn’t complaining about. They’ve grown into different versions of themselves in the years that they are apart and that’s wonderful. He finds new things about Renjun that only makes him love him even more, and he’s relearning old habits that never really went away.

The familiarity of their relationship has helped Jaemin and Renjun to adjust into this new relationship. Being Jisung’s parents have helped them bond deeper and quicker, too. Sure, they’ve been friends for years but it’s a little different when they’re now dating each other and Renjun has become Jisung’s parent too.

Most days, their home is peaceful—the two of them working in perfect sync like the moon and the sun to keep their environment intact. Renjun has been a great boyfriend, and a great father to Jisung too in the year that they’ve been back together. But relationships aren’t always happy, the person that you love can’t always give their 100% into the relationship everyday and in the days that they are lacking, one must compromise.

This is something that they’re both learning.

Living together has its perks, but it also poses challenges for the new couple.

Recently, Renjun has been busy with work. He’s been spending more time at the museum than he is paid for and it worries Jaemin sick that his boyfriend might be overworking himself.

While Renjun is at work, Jaemin makes the home.

He still has his job that allows him to work from home, but he’s growing busier as the days pass as well. With him working from home, it’s an agreement between them that Jaemin will still be the one tasked with most of the household chores but Renjun has insisted that he also helps the moment he comes home from work. Jaemin doesn’t reject that idea.

Tonight, Renjun tells him that he won’t be home for dinner.

Jisung asks where Renjun is and he says that Renjun will be a little late. Jisung doesn’t ask further, and instead tells him of the friend he made that day, a girl named Yeojin from his class.

Yeojin apparently asked him if he wants to do their project together. Although reluctant but reminded of his promise to his parents, Jisung has agreed.

Jaemin tells him that he’s really proud of him, and that Yeojin seems like a nice girl. Jisung agrees, and then continues to tell him how he still eats lunch with Chenle and shares his food with him too. He makes a mental note to pack Jisung more snacks tomorrow so he can share it with his new friend.

After dinner, Jaemin helps Jisung with his homework, soon after, Jisung washes up for bed. Jisung gives him a kiss before he goes to bed, tells him to give it to Renjun when he arrives home. Jaemin promises to keep it safe until then.

It’s not the first time that Jaemin is worried about Renjun coming home late due to work, but it’s the first time that Renjun didn’t tell him at least an estimate of when he will be home.

He understands that Renjun has the demands of his work to meet, but he thinks that he’s allowed to be worried about his partner overworking himself.

Jaemin’s stayed up late, beer in hand as he watches Netflix in the living room. From where he is, he has a view of the door and when it finally opens to reveal Renjun, he stands up immediately, almost dropping his beer in the process.

“Hi,” Renjun announces, voice tired as he yawns into the back of his hand. He uses the wall to support himself as he takes his shoes off, and all the upset and irritation that Jaemin had harbored earlier are washed away just from how pitiful Renjun looks.

“Hi.” Jaemin leaves his beer bottle on the coffee table, walks over to him then grabs his bag away from him as he greets him with a small kiss. “From Jisung, by the way.”

Renjun smiles apologetically as he collapses into Jaemin’s arms in a bone crushing hug. He hears Renjun inhale, his chest rising and falling as Jaemin cradles him tightly. “He’s asleep?”

“Yup,” Jaemin responds as he leads him into the house. They rest against each other on the couch for a while, Renjun cradled in Jaemin’s arms for a tender moment. This is peaceful, the one thing that Jaemin looks forward the most at the every end of the day.

The days may be long and tiring, but his nights where Renjun comes home to him in one piece are worth the wait.

“Sorry,” Renjun apologizes, head buried in the crook of Jaemin’s neck, “the meeting ran longer than I thought and we had to make emergency adjustments because of the exhibit deadline closing in and it was just so—”

“Renjun,”

“Yeah?”

“Just… rest, okay? I’ll take care of everything.”

Renjun melts into a smile. He hoists himself up so that he’s straddling Jaemin now. He throws a glance somewhere over Jaemin’s head and he knows that he’s looking at the door to Jisung’s room. Jaemin grabs his hips, thumbs pressing against the bone there as he looks up with a brow raised at Renjun.

“What are you thinking about?” Jaemin asks.

“I’m tired, just need a recharge, I think.” Those are the last words from Renjun before he leans down to press their lips together in a kiss.

Jaemin smiles into the warmth of Renjun’s mouth, causes Renjun to giggle as he does his best to kiss Jaemin back. He’s not going to lie, Jaemin has missed this. On top of them being hands-on parents to Jisung, they’ve both been busy with their jobs. He doesn’t remember the last time they kissed like this, kissed more than lingering pecks and quick goodbyes.

With Renjun cupping his cheeks, tilting his head up for a better angle, it doesn’t take long before they’re kissing deeply and passionately. Renjun kisses like a god, his tongue licking against Jaemin’s bottom lip and Jaemin opens up so, _so_ easily for him, accepting what Renjun gives.

Jaemin’s hands wander down, from Renjun’s hips, they travel down to the curve of Renjun’s ass. He grabs the soft flesh, pulls Renjun’s hips against his own so that they are chest to chest as they kiss.

The movement causes Renjun to moan into Jaemin’s mouth, and Jaemin swallows the sound he makes as he sucks on Renjun’s tongue. They kiss like that for what feels like hours, until Jaemin has Renjun lying down on the couch, pressing kisses to the line of his throat. They’re in the heat of the moment, and Jaemin wonders how far they’re going to go tonight.

His question is answered when, as he moves down to kiss Renjun’s collarbones, he hears a low rumble from Renjun’s stomach.

Biting the insides of his cheek to stop himself from laughing, Jaemin looks up at Renjun. “I think we should get you some dinner first.”

Blushing and with his hands fisting Jaemin’s shirt on his shoulders, Renjun nods and scampers away from the couch, clearing his throat. “Yup. Yeah. Eat. Food first.”

Laughing quietly, Jaemin follows after Renjun. “Let me reheat it for you!”

It’s been _a while_ since the both of them did _it._ So it’s not surprising that simply just making out has them all hot and bothered. No matter how much they crave it, there’s just far more important things to handle now than their libidos. There’s always a next time anyway.

Jaemin reheats the food for Renjun as he showers to clean off the grime from work and commute.

As he watches the microwave do its work, he feels a pair of arms wrap around his waist as a cheek presses to his shoulder. Renjun smells of his soap, something that he has come around to using as they started living together even though he initially didn’t like the smell of it.

Jaemin holds Renjun’s hand over his stomach as Renjun speaks. “Tomorrow, I’ll come home early from work and I’ll make those boiled mandu that you like.”

Jaemin smiles, lifts Renjun’s hand to press a kiss to his knucles and turns around. “With the special sauce too?”

Renjun grins and nods. “Of course. You can never have mandu without my special sauce. It’s the law.”

“And we wouldn’t want to break it, won’t we?”

“Definitely!”

Other than adjusting to a school year where Chenle isn’t with him, Jisung has also grown a fiercer interest. It’s something that he has been going on about since last year, but with the beginning of the school year, his attempts at asking them to adopt a cat has just gotten stronger and better.

“Jisungie, let’s go.” Jaemin’s voice sounds strict when he speaks, and Jisung shoots up from where he’s crouching down on the street petting the stray cat.

“I want a cat.” Jisung says as he jogs back to where Jaemin is, holding Jaemin’s hand as he reluctantly waves goodbye to the stray cat who has started walking away, its tail swishing behind it.

Jisung has been asking for a cat since last year, even wanted one for his birthday this year but they compromised and got him a new bike instead of a cat. Jaemin can handle teaching Jisung how to ride a bike, but he’s not so sure if he can handle having a cat around the house.

“We talked about this, Jisungie. I don’t think we can take care of a cat yet.” Jaemin says as he tugs Jisung away to the supermarket where they’re going to get groceries.

There’s a lot of times in the past when Jaemin almost fell for the trap of Jisung’s puppy eyes and reasoning. He often wonders if Jisung will hate him for not getting him a cat but Renjun has soothed that worry out of him. Jisung loves him more than he loves animals, surely Jisung won’t hate him for saying no to him.

Jisung frowns but follows Jaemin anyway. “I know…” He mumbles, and for a while, as they take their cart and walk to the dairy aisle, Jisung is quiet—seemingly thinking to himself as he holds Jaemin’s hand.

As Jaemin picks out Renjun’s favorite brand of dairy milk (which, only Renjun and Jisung drink because Jaemin’s lactose intolerant), Jisung chimes with a suggestion. “Can I talk to you later about it when we get home?”

Jaemin smiles softly. If there’s something about Jisung that he knows he got from Jaemin, it’s his _persistence_ to get what he wants. It’s a telltale sign that he truly is Jaemin’s child.

“Sure, sweetheart. Let’s wait until Renjun baba gets home so he hears what you have to say, hm?”

Jisung nods, smiling resolutely to himself. “Mhm!”

With the look on Jisung’s face, it does seem like they’ll be having a hard time saying no to him this time.

True enough to his words, as they arrive home from the grocery store, Jisung runs into his room saying that he needs to prepare his presentation for later. Jaemin tells him to come back out before dinner so he can help set the table and Jisung crosses his heart just before closing his bedroom door.

Jaemin arranges the groceries into the fridge and into the pantry, slices some fruits for Jisung and knocks at his door to give it to him. Jisung opens his door to accept the fruits but doesn’t let him in (for the _shock_ purposes, he says). Jaemin lets him be, prepares slices of apples for himself too and texts Renjun to give him a heads-up of what’s about to go down when he gets home.

**[me]**  
jisung is going to present us his case of adopting a cat again  
be ready  
he seems really determined today so prepare your heart

 **[the love of my life** **💘** **]  
**what!!!  
HAHAHAHA  
what did he see today?

 **[me]**  
a stray cat on our way to the grocery  
he had the shining look in his eyes you know  
he might just convince me this time

 **[the love of my life** **💘** **]**  
🙄 he got it from you  
the power of convincing people

 **[me]**  
unfortunately

 **[the love of my life** **💘** **]**  
i’ll prepare my heart then  
do you guys want bread  
i’ll drop by the bakery on my home

 **[me]**  
sure!! get us the hotdog buns one  
i really like those

 **[the love of my life** **💘** **]**  
of course you do 😏

 **[me]**  
SHUT UP

 **[the love of my life** **💘** **]**  
😏😏😏😏😏😏😏😏

 **[me]**  
you are annoying  
goodbye

 **[the love of my life** **💘** **]**  
hahahahaha i love you too!  
see you later!

 **[me]**  
you are lucky i love you  
take care, be home safe  
💘💘💘💘💘💘

 **[the love of my life** **💘** **]**  
ttyl 😘

Jisung erupts from his room after what seems to be hours to be able to help Jaemin set the table. He seems weirdly enthusiastic and excited about dinner, practically running here and there so that the table can be set as soon as possible. Jaemin tries his best to pry information from Jisung about how his presentation will go but the child keeps mum about it.

When Renjun arrives home from work, Jisung helps him hang his coat and put his bag back inside their room. He also gives Renjun his house slippers and asks him to take a bath immediately as he steps foot inside the house so that they can have dinner already.

As Jisung drags him to the bathroom, Renjun gives Jaemin a confused look but Jaemin only shrugs with a smile as he watches the scene go down.

Jisung’s passion for wanting a cat is nothing short of astounding. Actually, he thinks that if Jisung presents a well-enough case, he might just cave and end up convincing Renjun too to get a cat for themselves.

Once he’s all washed up and they’re eating dinner all together, Renjun opens up the conversation.

“So,” he says, leaning forward with his forearms pressed against the edge of the table, “appa told me that you have a presentation for us tonight? Hm?”

Jisung is practically bouncing on his seat, smiling around his spoonful of rice. “Yes!” He says, mouth full. Jaemin tells him to chew his food first before speaking.

Swallowing his food obediently, Jisung then chugs some water and then continues speaking. “I made a presentation! I will show you later, but let’s eat first!” 

Renjun’s eyebrows rise to his hairline, impressed at Jisung’s self-control.

“We better get done with dinner fast, then?” Jaemin suggests and Jisung agrees by gobbling down the rest of his servings.

With Jisung’s energy on an all-time high because of his desire to show them his presentation, Jaemin and Renjun end up eating dinner quickly too.

After dinner, Jisung makes them sit on the couch next to each other. He even goes into their pantry and serves them the hotdog buns bread that Renjun brought home.

Jaemin has an arm over Renjun’s shoulders, and Renjun leans his head against Jaemin’s shouder as Jisung scrambles back to his room to get his presentation. While Jisung is in the room, Renjun asks.

“What if Jisung makes a really compelling case this time?”

Jaemin looks at Renjun. “Then, maybe we’ll have to consider it this time.”

It’s not that Jaemin doesn’t like cats. He’s ambivalent when it comes to pets, would definitely prefer a Samoyed dog but he knows they need a lot of effort to maintain and he isn’t sure if their lifestyle would be the best to sustain such a big dog. A cat, however, can be the more plausible option—but then again, Jisung is still only seven. There’s still some space for Jisung to grow into, he doesn’t know if Jisung is ready to take care of a pet yet.

He’s heard a lot of unsolicited advice from Jeno about taking care of a cat, with him being the resident cat expert, he’s obviously on Jisung’s side when it comes to the matter of them adopting a cat. Jeno suggests fostering a cat, if they still isn’t sure about taking care of one for the long-term, but even that has been pushed back to the back of Jaemin’s mind.

When he talked to Renjun about this, both of them came to the conclusion that they’re open to taking care of a cat—they just need to gauge when it would be the perfect time to get Jisung a cat—one that he’ll be fully responsible for.

Jisung returns to the living room with a bunch of papers in his hand. They look like the pads of paper he’d use for school work and Jaemin just has to applaud the effort of his son before he has even started. Jaemin uses PowerPoint for his presentations, and here is his seven-year-old son presenting them a presentation with hand-crafted slides. That definitely deserves some commendation.

Jisung bows his head at the applause, Renjun joining him soon after as they listened with an open heart. They both think that Jisung is going to end up convincing them today, and really, that’s just something they’ll both have to deal with.

“Hi! Good evening, my name is Jisung. I’m seven years old and this is why my appa and baba should allow me to get a cat!” Jisung begins his presentation, holding up his first piece of paper. It’s an illustration that resembles Jeno’s cats.

Over the years, Jisung has still grown to love drawing, it’s something that he likes doing and Jaemin and Renjun are more than encouraging—Renjun, especially.

“Babe, he used the crayons I got him from last year!” Renjun whispers to Jaemin, obviously giddy that his gift is being utilized well and for such an important event as well.

Jaemin nods, squinting. Even though he really cannot tell the difference between different kinds of crayons, Jaemin agrees. “He likes them.”

“This is me,” Jisung flips to the next page, it’s an illustration of him watering the plants in their houses, “I water the plants every day when I wake up and after I go home from school. Baba said that the plants need to be told stories to grow healthy so after I water them, I sit down and tell them stories about my day!”

True enough, Jaemin has caught Jisung multiple times engaged in a conversation with their houseplants, the watering can next to him. He has explained to Jisung that it’s because humans emit carbon dioxide and the plants need it to be able to produce oxygen, but it seems like that he does prefer Renjun’s explanations.

Next to him, Renjun is nodding his head in recognition. When Jisung sees the approval, he smiles so hard his face looks like it’s going to break in half.

“Next,” Jisung turns to the next illustration, “I fold my own clothes after appa has taken them out of the dryer.” He points at the drawing of the dryer, very much like the one in their laundry room. “I really like the smell of laundry after it’s dried… so I really like folding them! But appa folds the pants and the jackets because they’re too big!”

Jaemin can’t help chuckle at how Jisung is giving him credit even in a presentation that’s very much supposed to showcase his responsibility. What a thoughtful child.

Jisung continues. This time, it’s the three of them sitting around the dinner table. It’s a picture that looks very much like from tonight’s dinner. “And! I also help set the table for dinner. Appa is busy with cooking for us everyday and Baba has to come home from work everyday, I like setting the table so they don’t feel too tired after dinner.”

That tugs at Jaemin’s heartstring, and hearing Renjun vocally coo at it and place his hand over his mouth in awe just puts the nail to the coffin. Jisung definitely _knows_ how to convince people, how to tell a story and how to tug at heartstrings. He feels as if Jisung doesn’t really need to say anything further, he’ll get him a cat right there and then.

The next drawing shocks him, to say the least. Because it’s a picture of Jisung, in school, and this time instead of his usual illustrations with just him and Chenle, there are other kids around him who are all holding hands. Jaemin turns his head to look at Renjun, and when their eyes meet, they’re both sporting the same expression of pleasant surprise.

“I promised baba and appa that I’ll make friends at school. So I did. This is Yeojin, Taehyun, Chaerin, Eunsang, Dongpyo and Minhee! They’re all very nice to me, but sometimes they have fights and I tell them they don’t have to fight, they just have to talk and hug and it’ll be okay. I’m not sure if they listen to me, though. But I try.”

Jaemin turns to Renjun, and they share that look of understanding. It seems like Jisung has made a solid argument today and has made their decision waver. Renjun shakes his head at him, but with a fond smile nonetheless as they continue to listen to Jisung’s presentation.

“And lastly, I don’t have any allergies. I am very healthy. Appa said I never got very sick before. Uncle Jeno has allergies but he still takes care of three cats! Three cats!”

Jisung clears his throat and set his papers down. He smiles at them expectantly, obviously pleased with himself and the little story that he has just presented.

Renjun puts a hand on Jaemin’s knee and squeezes, telling him to take the lead.

Jaemin does as he’s told. “Well, you’ve made a very interesting and compelling argument this time, Jisungie. I guess we will have to think about it?”

Jisung’s entire face lights up at the words from Jaemin, he bounds up to them, jumping up into Jaemin’s lap to tackle him into a hug. Renjun’s laughing next to them, ruffling Jisung’s hair as Jaemin tries to keep his growing child on his lap.

“You’ll think about it?! It’s not a _no,_ right?! You’ll really, _really_ think about it?” Jisung pulls away from Jaemin, only to reach in and give Renjun a hug too.

Jaemin smiles, patting Jisung on the back. “Yes, we’ll have to think about it. You made a really good presentation!”

“Next time, I think I’m gonna have to hire Jisung when I have a presentation for an exhibit.” Renjun jokes, to which Jisung makes a face at, saying that he’s too young for a job.

Jisung thanks them for listening to him, and promises that he will do his best when they get him a cat—will make sure it’s well taken care of. Jaemin tells him that they’ll let him know what they decide soon, but for now, he has to wash up for bed and expectedly, Jisung rushes to his room to get ready for bed.

“Oh god,” Renjun sighs when Jisung is out of earshot, “we have raised a salesman. He’s such a good talker. I bought all of that?”

Jaemin shrugs. “I bought all of that too. So, I guess we have to start looking into shelters and cat care then?”

Renjun shakes his head, smiling fondly. “I guess so.”

Next weekend, Jisung comes over to visit Jeno and Donghyuck.

Their friends have been busy recently, so it’s been a while since Jisung was over at their house to come hang out and play with their cats. Excitedly, Jisung has told them that Jaemin and Renjun are thinking of adopting a cat so he asked if he can come over and take care of the cats just so he can get a bit of practice.

And with Jisung’s innate powers of convincing, Jeno and Donghyuck come picking him up from their place that weekend.

Which, in turn, causes Jaemin and Renjun to go back to bed after they’ve sent Jisung with Jeno and Donghyuck.

Renjun rolls over in bed, throwing his leg over Jaemin’s hips and snuggling closer to the crook of his neck. Jaemin hums, wrapping his arms over Renjun’s frame and pulling him even closer.

“We haven’t had a late morning in so long.” Renjun mumbles against Jaemin’s neck, kissing on the skin there.

“Mhm,” Jaemin grumbles out his response, tucking Renjun’s head under his chin. “Let’s just order pizza and not get out of bed. Jisung won’t be back until dinner.”

Renjun yawns, shifting closer to Jaemin. “Okay. Let’s go back to sleep, wake up in the afternoon, and get pizza.”

Jaemin agrees to that, screwing one eye open to look at Renjun. Squeezed next to him, Renjun has his eyes closed, looking well-rested and absolutely content. It’s been a while since Jaemin has seen him like this. Although Renjun does his best to not show it, he’s been stressed from work and the late hours it’s asking from him.

All Jaemin wants is to care for Renjun, to make sure that he is okay, to make sure that he isn’t in any harm. With them lying together in bed like this, he hopes that he is able to give Renjun the sense of warmth and comfort he gives him too.

Jaemin falls asleep like that, hugging Renjun, and even though he wakes up a few hours later with a numb arm, it’s all worth it.

He checks the clock on his phone, ignores the plethora of notifications from work and puts it back down. The time tells him it’s one o’clock in the afternoon. They’ve slept for so long it’s time to order food like they agreed to.

Jaemin wriggles away carefully from Renjun, letting his partner sleep for a longer time while he orders food for them. He makes a quick call, then goes to their adjoining bathroom to brush his teeth.

In the middle of brushing his teeth, the bathroom door opens to reveal Renjun who’s barely awake, eyes half-closed but he walks over to him to hug him from behind anyway.

“What time is it?” Renjun asks.

Jaemin mumbles through the suds and the brush in his mouth, his hands working to put toothpaste of Renjun’s toothbrush at the same time. “Past one?”

Renjun accepts the toothbrush Jaemin hands him, pulling away until he’s hugging him sideways. They’re both facing the mirror now, brushing their teeth in almost perfect sync. It’s part of their everyday routine by now, but sometimes, when the silence is tender and the moment is private, Jaemin cannot help but think of how grateful he is at how far they’ve come.

Jaemin pulls away from him momentarily to wash the sud off his mouth. He grabs the hand towel on the rack by the sink and pats himself dry. Renjun mirrors his actions, grabbing the other end of the towel to dry himself too.

“Gross, this is mine.” Jaemin scowls jokingly, and Renjun sticks his tongue out at him to grab the towel away.

“Don’t gross me, you’ve had your tongue shoved in my ass before.” Renjun punctuates his sentence by slamming the bathroom door after him.

Jaemin flushes from the neck up, reminding the last time he has had his tongue _shoved_ down Renjun’s ass. It makes him weak in the knees, his hands gripping the sink to steady himself before he exits out of the bathroom to follow Renjun. It has been a very, _very_ long time ago and the last time they did it, it had been Renjun’s tongue down prodding around his rim. Jaemin shudders at the thought, blood rushing south at the memories Renjun’s words have brought upon.

Renjun has started brewing coffee and tea, their differing tastes reflecting in their kitchen appliances and their pantry. This time, Jaemin wraps an arm around Renjun’s waist, lifting him up a few inches off the floor to surprise him. Renjun yelps, hitting him on the arm and demanding to be put down.

“So,” he says, putting Renjun back gently on his feet, “about last week?”

“What about it?” Renjun asks nonchalantly, moving around the counter as he grabs a coffee mug and teacup from their cabinets. Jaemin follows him, arms still wrapped loosely around Renjun’s waist.

“The thing that happened?”

Renjun scoffs. “Jisung asking for a cat? I thought we’ll decide before Christmas?”

Jaemin whines low in his throat, only pulling away when Renjun turns around to hand him his coffee mug. The black liquid reflects his expression as he stares at it, but Jaemin doesn’t even have half the mind to be embarrassed at how much he looks like a scolded puppy, who didn’t get what it wanted.

Jaemin takes a huge gulp from the hot liquid, slightly burning his throat in the process but it’s the kind of sensation that he has gotten used to. “What I mean is this.”

Renjun looks up at him, an unamused expression on his face as Jaemin pries away his teacup and places it on the counter behind him. Jaemin puts his mug down too, before taking hold of Renjun’s chin, tilting his head up to meet him in a gentle kiss.

He feels Renjun chuckle into the kiss, not taking him seriously so Jaemin deepens the kiss in a split second, working his tongue into Renjun’s mouth. Renjun accepts him easily, groaning into the kiss as he reaches up to grab the back of Jaemin’s neck.

Since that incident on the couch, they haven’t really had any chances to do it again given their lives at the moment. But now, now is the perfect time. Jisung won’t be home for a couple of hours and that’s plenty enough time for them to go at it once or twice.

Renjun kisses him back, hand tangling at the hair on the back of Jaemin’s head, his other hand clutching at Jaemin’s waist for dear life.

Jaemin cups both of his cheeks, tongue exploring the ridges of Renjun’s mouth, massaging the muscle that responds to his every movement too. He knows that right now, Renjun is allowing him to do whatever he wants—should Renjun have his way with him, Jaemin’s the one that’s going to be unravelling under Renjun’s palms.

They kiss for a little bit more, only pulling away for a second to breathe before they meet each other again in the middle. They’re interrupted once again by a low grumbling, and Renjun can’t even help his laughter even if he tried.

“Fuck,” Jaemin curses, pulling away from Renjun who has now buried his face against Jaemin’s shoulder because he’s been laughing so hard.

“You’re starving.” Renjun points out kindly, mirth in his eyes as he looks up at Jaemin.

Jaemin pouts, grabs his coffee from the counter and sips the liquid. “Don’t make fun of me.”

“It’s okay,” Renjun says, taking his teacup and leaning back against the counter. The movement makes Renjun’s hip brush against Jaemin’s from how close they are, and it elicits a small gasp from him.

Renjun smirks. “After we have lunch, I’ll let you fuck me. Sound good?”

Jaemin whimpers around his coffee mug. “Jesus—yes, _good.”_

Jaemin does his best not to choke on the pizza when they eat. Renjun on the other hand, seems to be taking his sweet time eating one slice of pizza as he scrolls through his phone with his other hand.

The wait is infuriating, but Jaemin knows that this is a game that Renjun likes to play. Especially now that they have time, Renjun is definitely going to make him wait for it until he’s begging.

Well, he already waited for months—he can take waiting for a couple more minutes. Plus, he’s never been above begging anyway.

His waiting proves to be successful because once Renjun has finished eating, he pounces on him and dives into a kiss that renders Jaemin breathless.

Jaemin can’t even do anything but follow Renjun as he grabs him up by his arms and drags them to their bedroom. Renjun kicks the door close behind them, shucking off his shirt as he demands Jaemin to take off his own too. Jaemin, walking backwards until his legs hit the bed, obeys.

Renjun decides that Jaemin has done his waiting, so he gives it to Jaemin fast.

In no time, Renjun’s on all fours in front of him, ass up as Jaemin fucks him with three fingers. It’s been a while since Renjun bottomed, since they’ve had _sex_ so Jaemin opens him up for him gently.

“Jaemin, fuck!” Renjun moans, driving his hips backwards when Jaemin curls his fingers, brushing at Renjun’s prostrate with practiced ease.

Jaemin presses a hand to the small of Renjun’s back, pushing him back down on the mattress to keep him still. “Slowly, baby. I don’t want to hurt you.”

Jaemin is so painfully hard, his cock curled up to his stomach as he fingers Renjun to make sure that he’s prepped properly.

His eyes trace the line of Renjun’s spine, arching beautifully as Renjun presents all for him. His hands are gripping the sheets next to his head and the moment is so breathtaking that Jaemin almost forgets about his own arousal just to stare at Renjun.

“Hurry,” Renjun whines, “you should worry about me hurting you if you don’t fuck me right now.”

Jaemin can’t help but laugh, even though he’s literally face down and ass up for Jaemin, Renjun still _bites._

“Okay,” Jaemin relents, pulls out his fingers and revels in the way Renjun’s hole gape for him. Hurriedly, he rushes to the side of the bed where he tossed the lube and pours a copious amount on his length, pumping himself a few times to spread it and give himself some release.

Renjun has rolled over to his back now, propping himself up on his elbows as he watches Jaemin jack himself off. There’s a look in Renjun’s eyes that causes Jaemin to pump himself even more, but Renjun puts a hand on his wrist and shakes his head. “I want you to cum in me.”

He earns a full body shudder just from that, nodding as he hovers over Renjun. Renjun lies back on the bed, arms hooked under his legs as Jaemin focuses on fucking himself into Renjun.

“Shit,” Jaemin curses as he feels the head of his cock push past the tight ring of muscles, and below him, Renjun is breathing evenly, relaxing and adjusting himself to the stretch. Renjun is letting out tiny moans at every movement, at every inch that Jaemin breaches into him, Renjun responds with an encouraging moan.

“Okay?” Jaemin asks, looking into Renjun’s eyes which are a little wet from pleasure. Renjun looks absolutely beautiful, and Jaemin knows that once he has bottomed out, Renjun is going to fucking him like a god.

Renjun nods. “Yup, fine. I want all of you in me, please.”

And with Renjun looking this glorious underneath him, who is Jaemin to say no?

Jaemin thrusts into Renjun more, going and going until he finally bottoms out and Renjun releases a groan at the feeling of being filled. Jaemin can feel his cock throbbing in the wet heat of Renjun’s core, so tight that it’s making him almost delirious.

“Wait,” Renjun says, wrapping his arms around Jaemin’s torso under his arms. He feels fingernails dig against his back, and Jaemin rests against Renjun so that they’re chest to chest for a minute.

“You feel so good, Junnie.” Jaemin whispers in Renjun’s ear, and Renjun clenches around him in response. In turn, Jaemin thrusts into him once in a quick movement.

“I wanna go slow now.” Renjun tugs Jaemin’s hair so that he looks at him. It shoots straight right to Jaemin’s dick. “Can we do that? Slow? I want you to make love to me. We haven’t done this in so long.”

“Baby, I will give you the sun and the stars if you ask me to. I’ll do anything for you.” Barely coherent, Jaemin is amazed at how he can still string the cheesiest words together. It’s worth it though, because Renjun smiles and leans up with much effort to kiss him.

When Renjun separates from him, there’s a thoughtful look in his face. “By the way, I’ll do my best to come home early from work from now on. I know you’ve been worried.”

Happiness blooms in Jaemin’s heart at that. “Thank you. I only worry because I love you.”

“I know. I love you too.”

They punctuate their conversation with another kiss, and just as Jaemin begins to grind his hips, his phone that he left at the nightstand from earlier that morning buzzes with a notification. Renjun rolls his eyes, frowning at him. “If you check your phone right now I’m going to kill you.”

“No way, I don’t even have a phone.” As if to prove his point, Jaemin grabs his phone from the stand, throws it into the drawer and closes it shut.

Renjun laughs. “You didn’t have to go that far.”

“I told you I’d do anything for you.”

Now, uninterrupted, Jaemin makes love to Renjun in slow grinds and thrusts. He makes sure that with each time his cock drags along Renjun’s walls, they leave marks of the love he has for him. He makes love to Renjun until they’re both blubbering messes, until Renjun is screaming Jaemin’s name like a desperate prayer.

He makes love to Renjun until spurts of white paint their chests, until he cums into Renjun and fills him with all that he is. He climaxes so hard that it takes him a full minute to calm down, resting against Renjun like that.

He doesn’t know for how long they basked in the afterglow of their orgasms, but all that is washed away when there’s a loud rapping at their bedroom door, accompanied with the awfully familiar voice of Lee Donghyuck berating them.

Jaemin and Renjun both know they’ve fucked up.

“Hey, lovebirds! If you are done fucking each other into the next weekend, please wash up and come outside. Jisung wanted to come home early.”

Jaemin’s always dealt with embarrassment well. It’s a feeling he’s come to enjoy, even. But the doesn’t think he’s prepared to deal with his best friend catching him on the act with his boyfriend. Even worse, Jisung is with Donghyuck when Renjun’s moan ripped out through the entire apartment.

“You’re fucking lucky I’m a quick thinker!” Donghyuck scolds, hands thrown up in the air as he walks around the living room. “Covered his ears and rushed him back down to the car with Jeno as fast as possible. What were you guys thinking?”

Renjun has his face buried in hands, groaning. Jaemin faces Donghyuck though. “Thank you, Donghyuck—but you should’ve called. It’s the only time we got to be alone together so we took advantage of it. We would never do anything to harm Jisung.”

Donghyuck raises a brow. “Excuse me? I called. Neither of you answered.” Donghyuck exhales. Jaemin thinks back to his phone stashed in the nightstand drawer. “Anyway, it’s not a bad thing that you guys have healthy sex lives. Don’t think I’m mad because of that just—be more careful okay? Next time if you have plans, tell me and I’ll even take Jisung to sleepover with us.”

Jaemin can’t help the laughter, throwing his head back as he pretends to kick Donghyuck. Renjun has gotten over his embarrassment and is laughing with them too.

Donghyuck stops laughing first, exhaling. “I’m serious though, I know it’s been hard, so I’m offering but don’t abuse it.”

Jaemin gasps, feigning offense. “We will never.”

“Thank you for the offer, Hyuckie. We’ll think about it.” Renjun tells him with a slight smile.

Donghyuck shrugs. “It’s up all year round, except for when Jeno and I are busy. The house can get quite volatile when we’re on edge so—better give me a heads up too. I doubt Jisung heard anything by the way, but it’s better to give him the _talk_ soon. You know what I’m saying?”

“Ugh,” Jaemin huffs, “we know. We’re raising our kid perfectly fine, Hyuckie. He knows all he needs to know at this age.”

Renjun nods in agreement. “Yeah, I think we’re doing a pretty good job at that. He knows that words like penis or vagina aren’t bad words, he knows that babies are made from the sperm and the egg cell.”

Donghyuck’s eyebrows rise in surprise. “Wow, you guys are doing better than I thought.”

Jaemin laughs. “We do our best.”

Renjun claps his hand together. “Now that we’ve got our apologies and explanation out of the way, where is our baby and why did he want to come home early?”

“He says,” Donghyuck begins as he makes his way out of the apartment to fetch Jisung from the car, Jaemin and Renjun following suit, “he has more points to raise when it comes to adopting a cat for him and he just has to tell you guys before he forgets.”

Looking at each other, Jaemin and Renjun only shake their head with knowing smiles.

The next week is uneventful.

Jaemin’s work is less demanding now, so he has more free time to spend. Most days, he spends his afternoons jogging around their block before Jisung comes home from school. Sometimes, he’ll pull out his favorite Pinterest board and learn a new recipe before dinner. He spends a few hours gaming too, but he does it rarely these days.

Managing a home isn’t easy, but Jaemin tries to juggle. Despite the fact that he’s been doing it for some seven years now, he still finds himself struggling at different tasks.

Sometimes, that stain in the bathroom tiles is even more stubborn than Jisung when he wants something. Sometimes, he forgets to take the trash out on top of the other things that he’s doing. Jaemin doesn’t particularly like doing laundry, and thinks it’s the most tedious task that needs to be done. Although there are these tasks that Jaemin hasn’t fully mastered nor perfected, it’s okay because in where he is lacking—Renjun completes.

Renjun has the drive to scrub out that stain in the bathroom tiles. Renjun goes to work early in the morning and he grabs the trash on his way out when Jaemin forgets to during his turn the night before. Renjun thinks that doing laundry and folding clothes is relaxing so he volunteers to do all the laundry from now on.

So, really, he manages—not just by himself this time, but with the help of Renjun too.

He cannot imagine a home without Renjun in it.

And when dinners start to become empty again, with Renjun texting that he’s going to get home late as his co-workers have roped him into drinking for the night, he can’t help that uneasy feeling in his stomach.

Renjun assures him in the phone call that he’ll be home safe, and Jaemin trusts him—really, he just can’t help but be worried.

Even though Renjun tells him to not wait up late for him, Jaemin can’t seem to find a comfortable position in bed. He has tucked Jisung in bed hours ago, the kid now sleeping tightly after an entire evening of telling his school stories with his new friends. Jaemin responds to him encouragingly, asking open-ended questions and offering to make cookies for next time so he can share it to his friends.

He’s tucked under the blanket, pouting subconsciously as he stares at this phone screen. Even Pinterest isn’t entertaining, Netflix is boring and he doesn’t have the brain to read anything at the moment.

It’s Saturday tomorrow, so they both don’t have work. Jaemin lists the things he has to do tomorrow—a habit he learned from Renjun.

In the middle of going through his list, just as he has passed through the grocery list and getting Jisung new running shoes, their door beeps—a sign that someone is opening it.

Jaemin scrambles up from their bed, pushing the blanket off him and pattering to the living room.

He expects Renjun to come home drunk, but the sight before of him makes his stomach drop.

It’s Renjun, the drunkest he’s ever seen him, on all fours at the front step, barely making his way into the house. Renjun got drunk with him back in university, but not to the point of not being able to walk back into the safety of his own home.

“Renjun,” Jaemin calls out, rushing over to Renjun’s side to help him up on his feet. Renjun’s eyes are closed, a goofy smile on his face. “How drunk are you?”

Renjun giggles. “How are you?”

“Fine.” Jaemin deadpans as he hoists Renjun up by the arm. He has an arm around his waist, dragging him up with him until they reach the couch. Renjun falls over when they reach the couch, face first on the upholstery and Jaemin has to turn him around so he doesn’t accidentally suffocate himself to death if he pukes.

Jaemin’s not mad, just relieved that Renjun is home but he doesn’t like that Renjun got drunk to this point. “Why didn’t you call? I could’ve picked you up.”

“It’s okay,” Renjun burps, turning around so that he faces Jaemin. Jaemin looks back at him, eyes soft. “I promised Jaemin I will come home in one piece. Plus, he’s tired.”

Jaemin stiffens at the revelation, he has forgotten how honest Renjun gets when he’s drunk.

“Still, I would’ve loved to drive you home.” Jaemin insists as he pushes Renjun’s hair away from his face. He smells awfully of liquor, and he grimaces at the stench on Renjun’s clothes.

“Hey—I only let Jaemin drive me home…” Renjun pauses, pushing himself up a little bit to inspect Jaemin’s face further. He seems curious, inquisitive, as if he has never seen Jaemin before. “You look so much like Jaemin.”

Jaemin chuckles. “Sure, come on. Let’s get this stinky suit off of you. We’ll get you in shower and then we’ll get you some warm soup so that you sober up a little?”

“Hey!” Renjun hits his hand when he tries to reach for his tie, “what do you think you’re doing? Jaemin… only Jaemin can undress me, you know? Even though you look like Jaemin… still.”

God, how can Jaemin even be upset when Renjun is this cute?

“Fine, go undress yourself Mr. Independent.” He challenges, crossing his arms and sitting away from Renjun.

Renjun takes on the challenge. He fumbles with his necktie, his tongue sticking out the side of his mouth as he tries his best to undo it. He takes a couple of tries, multiple times of giving up and then doing it all over again before he erupts into giggles, falling forward into Jaemin’s lap.

“I’m so drunk,” he slurs, “can you do it for me? I’ll tell Jaemin.”

Jaemin shakes his head, pushing him back down against the rest of the couch. “How much did you drink?” He asks, untying Renjun’s tie and then pulling it over his head carefully. He places it on the coffee table for safe keeping, then pushes his coat off his shoulders. He puts it next to the necktie and it visibly alleviates Renjun of the heat he’s feeling.

Renjun scrunches his nose. “Not sure, but I drank more than I ever did in university. They just kept giving me drinks and drinks.”

Jaemin nods, helping Renjun to unbuckle his belt too. Renjun tenses up a little, but when Jaemin meets his eyes, he relents and lets him do as he pleases. “So, a fuckton?”

Renjun snorts. “Yeah, a fuckton. It was so fun though, I don’t remember the last time that I’ve had fun while social drinking?”

Now that Renjun brings it up, Jaemin doesn’t remember the last time the two of them went out to go drinking casually. Usually, it’s just a couple of beers within their apartment walls. He doesn’t even remember the last time he had drinks with Jeno and Donghyuck. Although, he’s pretty sure that Jeno and Donghyuck still go out to clubs like they did in university, that’s not something that Jaemin and Renjun can afford now.

And now, with the blissed out look on Renjun’s face as he talks about his fun night out, Jaemin can’t help the dull insecurity scratching at the back of his mind.

“Really? You had fun?”

Renjun nods. “Yup! So much fun! Jaemin and I are _dads,_ we can’t go drinking out anymore. It’s okay though, I just miss it.”

Sober, Renjun has never expressed any thoughts about giving up his life a bachelor. Jaemin just always assumed that Renjun is into parenting as he is, after all, Renjun has always known that Jisung is always a part of Jaemin.

But now drunk and painfully honest, Jaemin doesn’t know if he’s going to be ready for whatever Renjun reveals.

“How much do you miss it?”

Renjun tugs his pants off and throws it to the floor when Jaemin finally gets his belt buckle off. “Kind of? Having nights out is really fun… but…”

“But?”

Renjun yawns, shrugging as he tucks his knees to his chest, lying down on the couch as if to sleep. “Nevermind, I’m sleepy.”

Helplessly, and with the daunting feeling of his entire world shattering underneath his feet, Jaemin watches as Renjun falls asleep peacefully.

He tries not to dwell so much in it as he carries Renjun into their bedroom. He tries not to think much about it as he undresses Renjun fully and wipes him down with a towel bath. He tries not to get his mind running about it as he slips Renjun into a loose shirt and tucks him in bed.

Then again, how can Jaemin not think about it when he knows that Renjun is painfully honest when he’s drunk?

Jaemin tries to sleep it off. The feeling doesn’t go away, anyway.

When Renjun has slept off his hangover, he gets extremely clingy. Jaemin allows him to cling. The bad feeling from last night has subsided as he has slept it off and it seems like Renjun doesn’t remember the conversation from last night either. He doesn’t even remember how he got home.

Renjun has apologized multiple times since gaining back his sobriety, Jaemin tells him it’s okay as long as he doesn’t make it a habit—he understands how drinking can be a workplace culture. And despite the fact that his working from home years has stripped him off of firsthand experience, he still has enough onsite job experience to understand it.

He’s not mad, just still slightly bothered. He doesn’t think it’s big enough of a bother to bring up with Renjun though so he doesn’t talk about it.

Anyway, there are far more important things to do today. They need to buy Jisung new running shoes.

This excites Jisung, jumping up and down their bed since the morning and slipping on his sneakers excitedly. He even presses the elevator button for them as he waits for them impatiently to join him.

So, now here they are, in a nearby department store a few minutes of drive away from their building. Jisung needs new shoes because his old ones barely fit him anymore, and they’re tattered from the use. They only planned on buying him one more pair of shoes but Jaemin doesn’t think it hurts to buy him another pair for dancing. He deserves it.

Renjun, still sleepy, but manages to get himself together enough to be in public is leaning against Jaemin as Jisung chooses his new pair of shoes. They let him pick whatever he wants, it’s him that’s going to wear it out for hours anyway. It’s never to bad to teach your kid autonomy early.

“Tired?” Jaemin asks, gripping his waist slightly.

Renjun nods against him, burrowing his head against Jaemin’s shoulder. Jaemin can’t help smiling to himself—Renjun has never been one for public displays of affection, so moments like this are moments that Jaemin really appreciates.

“Never drinking that much ever again.”

Just as Renjun punctuates his sentence, a woman comes up to them. Renjun doesn’t see her at first, and Jaemin has to nudge him a little to tell him that the woman is looking at him.

“Huh?” Renjun pulls away from Jaemin, then turns to look at the woman and he immediately bows his head in recognition.

“Renjun! I can’t believe I ran into you here after last night!” She says, laughing as she greets him with a bow too.

Jaemin gets reminded of last night again and presses his lips together.

Renjun chuckles nervously. “Yeah, honestly. Don’t remember much. But uh—” Renjun gestures to Jaemin, “this is my boyfriend, Jaemin. Jaemin, this is my co-worker, Jiwoo.”

Jaemin makes small talk with Jiwoo, introducing himself politely as they share pleasantries. Jiwoo tells him about how Renjun rocked the karaoke, and how everyone had been surprised because they never thought that someone as serious as Renjun can belt out a high note like it was second nature.

Renjun burns ups slightly from the embarrassment. Jaemin eggs him on, telling Jiwoo about the time that Renjun won a singing contest in high school. They exchange stories about Renjun for a little bit more, the both of them finding Renjun’s embarrassment amusing.

Really, Jaemin would love to hear more about Renjun at work, but Jisung calls for his attention as he has a dilemma over choosing a pair of shoes. He’s holding up different pairs of shoes, pouting as he waves a yellow sneaker and a white sneaker.

Jaemin excuses himself, but before he gets out of earshot, he overhears Jiwoo ask something.

“Oh? You have a son? I didn’t know that.”

“Well—no, he’s Jaemin’s son, actually.”

Jaemin feels as if a bucket of cold water has been dumped over his head. He walks to where Jisung is, putting his hands over _his_ kid’s shoulders, focusing all of his attention on him.

Why is it making Jaemin so upset? It doesn’t make any sense, but in his mind, it does. It makes sense.

He’s upset that it’s making him sick to his stomach. Renjun and Jisung are talking animatedly about Jisung’s new pairs of shoes, but Jaemin is focused on driving back home, not once engaging in the conversation that is being shared between the two people in the car.

He clears his mind until they’ve parked their car. He must seem so immature and childish now, but Jaemin just needs time to process the information he has learned in less than 24 hours.

Renjun misses being able to go out and have drinks with friends, and now he doesn’t introduce Jisung to other people as his own son. If Jaemin thinks too hard about it, he thinks he might just break down.

But now is not the time.

Jisung rushes into the apartment the moment that Jaemin opens the door, settles in the living room and unpacks his shoes to try it on again. But before he can get inside, Renjun pulls him to the side.

Of course. He has caught on. Renjun always catches on whenever something is wrong.

“Yeah?” Jaemin asks, raising his brow as he looks at the hand wrapped around his wrist. He doesn’t think he can look at Renjun’s eyes at the moment, he’s afraid that if he does, he might just erupt without thinking about his feelings—without sorting it out first. He needs to count to fifteen first before he opens his mouth.

Renjun squeezes around his wrist. “Is there anything wrong? You’ve been awfully quiet today.” Concern laces his voice when he speaks, and it chips at the exterior Jaemin has built around him.

He wants to talk about it with Renjun, but not now—it’s too fresh and he’s too fragile.

He smiles. “I’m okay, just a little tired from all the walking. Let’s go and make dinner.”

Renjun frowns. While Jaemin avoids his eyes, he can feel Renjun’s eyes boring holes into his skull at his avoidance of whatever is wrong.

“You’re not okay, let’s talk later before bed, okay?”

How can he ever get out of this slump?

Jaemin nods. “Okay.”

For the rest of the evening, Renjun avoids any discussions and volunteers to make dinner that day. Which is all right with Jaemin as he can spend the evening with his thoughts, Jisung, and nostalgic cartoons on Netflix.

Jaemin tries to untangle the mess of emotions by himself, despite the fact that he knows that they always deal with emotions better when they _talk_ about it and figure things out _together._ Jaemin thinks that he needs to sort this one out on his own before presenting it to Renjun.

He doesn’t want to hurt Renjun, doesn’t want to hurt Jisung. It’s okay if he’s hurting by himself, as long as his loved ones are protected and never doubting that they are loved by him.

But is he really protecting them by doing _this?_ He’s being so irrational, he knows, but the fear is eating him up and Jaemin doesn’t know what to do—doesn’t know if he can do what he’s supposed to do.

Jisung seems to sense his upset too, and he gets up from the floor and climbs onto the sofa next to him.

“Yes, Jisungie?”

Jisung tilts his head at him. “Do you hate Spongebob?”

“W-what?” Jaemin sputters. “No, I love Spongebob. Why do you ask?”

Jisung scrunches his nose, pouting his lips slightly too. “You aren’t watching, and you seem sad. Are you sad, Appa?”

Jaemin crumbles at that. “I’m just thinking of something. But can you give appa a hug?”

“Of course!” Jisung cheers, immediately enveloping Jaemin in a hug. Jaemin hugs him back, pulling him in and resting his head on the child’s small shoulders.

Jisung is only seven, and there are still things that Jaemin knows he has yet to teach him—but he thinks that Jisung has great sense of empathy. He doesn’t know if it’s because of how he raised him, or if Jisung has always had this sixth sense of how people around him are feeling. Whichever it is doesn’t really matter, all that matters now is that one tight hug from Jisung makes Jaemin feel infinitely better.

With Jisung next to him, he knows everything is going to turn out fine.

“Am I interrupting something?”

Renjun pops up from the kitchen, Jaemin’s apron around his waist and although he has been upset for the rest of the evening, he can’t help but smile at the sight.

“Appa wants hugs!” Jisung declares, pulling away from Jaemin. “Group hug!” 

Of course, Renjun obliges and runs headfirst to the couch. He allows himself to be pulled into a group hug by two people he loves most in the world.

He doesn’t know for how long they hug, but when they finally pull away, Renjun presses a kiss to the middle of his forehead and smiles.

Just like that, it feels like everything will be alright.

He just needs to talk to Renjun about it.

“Come on, let’s eat dinner?”

After dinner, Jaemin feels better. Warm food from Renjun and the easy conversation at the dining table is always comforting. Renjun is holding his thigh under the table and Jaemin feels closer and closer to his breaking point.

Renjun is right _here,_ all he needs to do now is tell him—talk to him, like they always promised. Why is it so hard suddenly when it concerns the state of his family?

Once they’ve washed up for bed, Jisung kisses them both goodnight and retreats to his room, excited about wearing his new shoes for his playdate with Chenle tomorrow.

The conversation is waiting to happen, and once they’ve slipped into bed, Renjun hugs him from behind.

“Wanna talk about it now?”

Jaemin closes his eyes. “Can we talk about it next time? I’m too tired.”

Renjun’s quiet for a moment, only the beating of their hearts heard in the silence of their room. Then, he speaks, pressing a kiss on Jaemin’s shoulder. “You can talk to me any time you’re ready. I’ll always be here.”

Jaemin bites back a whimper. “I know, goodnight.”

“Goodnight, love you.”

“Love you too.”

He doesn’t know who to talk to about this.

His friends are ultimately out of the picture, because Jeno and Donghyuck are Renjun’s best friends too. He doesn’t want to bring them into this. He can’t talk to his parents about this because he knows they won’t understand. So, for a few days now, Jaemin has kept this thing bugging him to himself.

He should know better—being the biggest advocate of teaching Jisung to speak on how he really feels, he should be following his own teachings and just talk to Renjun about it. He’s aware that talking to Renjun will solve about 80% of the crisis he’s undergoing but he isn’t sure if he’s ready to learn whatever the truth is.

Sometimes, when he’s alone at the house and when work is dead, these sickening thoughts get to him.

What if Renjun is getting tired of him and Jisung? What if he wants to go back to being single without the responsibility of raising a child? He knows that Renjun’s aware of his situation more than anyone is, but what if he changed his mind? What if Renjun has woken up one day and he realized that he’s not up for the long-term responsibility of raising a child together with Jaemin anymore?

How will Jisung even feel?

More than himself, more than Renjun, more than anyone in this world, it’s Jisung that he thinks about the most—his number one priority, the sole purpose of his existence. Everything he’s doing, he’s doing for Jisung. Every single day he gets out of bed with Jisung’s needs in mind. Jisung is his driving force, the push that he needs everyday when times are tough… all he wants is the best for Jisung.

And Jisung loves Renjun. Jisung has loved Renjun since even before he is old enough to remember. Renjun has been around him since the day Jaemin took sole responsibility and custody for Jisung. Jisung has grown up knowing that Renjun will love him forever, will love him like how Jaemin loves him—how will Jisung deal with it when everything suddenly changes?

These thoughts are scary, anxiety inducing. Irrational, wild thoughts that render him so helpless. These are things that haven’t even happened yet, just made up scenarios caused by him bottling up his emotions for so long.

And, based from experience, bottling his feelings up has never ended well for anyone.

Especially for him.

Renjun knows that something is wrong, but because of how they work, he knows that Jaemin will come around to telling him. That’s how they’ve worked around each other anyway. They give each other the time and space needed to sort out their thoughts, and when someone needs help to unspool the mess of emotions in them, the other will come right in.

So, for the past couple of days, Jaemin has been distant. He doesn’t even mean to be distant, he just gets lost in thought and his mind keeps on running and running, especially when Renjun is around.

On Wednesday, everything blows up in his face—just not in the way he expected it to.

Jisung comes home from school without the usual adrenaline he has when he gets off the bus. Jaemin asks him if anything is wrong, and Jisung tells him he just needs a nap and maybe some cookies and he will feel better.

So Jaemin does what he does best, he prepares cookies for Jisung and puts on his favorite cartoon (it’s Spongebob, these days).

Jisung falls asleep on the couch after taking a bite out of his cookie and after one episode of Spongebonb. It’s unusual, because Jisung usually finishes three or four cookie chips before Jaemin tells him he’ll get cavities if he eats more but today, he hasn’t even finished one.

Whatever is bothering Jisung, is definitely making him sad, so he tucks Jisung in with his blanket and lets him sleep there on the couch as he makes dinner.

Renjun comes home as he finished making dinner. Silently, he slips next to Jaemin and presses a kiss to his cheek. He wonders what Renjun is thinking with him being so quiet recently, withdrawn from them.

He hopes he’s not hurting him.

They eat dinner silently, with Jisung still pissed from whatever happened at school.

Renjun is looking at his phone on the dinner table, eyebrows creased together in the middle of his forehead while Jaemin keeps all his attention on the food.

The dining area is filled with just the sound of their utensils against the plates and the bowls, Renjun texting and Jaemin blowing into his hot soup.

It’s broken when Jisung erupts.

“Are you guys fighting?”

Jaemin looks up from his soup to Jisung, blinking. Renjun has placed his phone down and has leaned forward to the table.

“Jisung,” Jaemin calls out to him but Jisung isn’t looking at him. He’s staring at his lap, eyes downcast. “We’re not fighting, no one’s fighting here. Isn’t that right, Renjun?”

Renjun looks at him, raises a brow and frowns. He shakes his head, then turns his attention to Jisung. “Is everything okay, Jisung?”

Jaemin thinks this is his fault.

“Don’t lie,” Jisung mutters, “I know… I know what fighting looks like. My friends at school are fighting and they’re not talking to each other no matter how much I ask them to play together! And you guys are like them, you’re not talking to each other.”

Jaemin feels guilty, feels ashamed because Jisung has definitely noticed—and he’s being like this for something that’s not even entirely Renjun’s fault.

“Jisung,” Renjun speaks softly, moving out of his chair and walking over to hug Jisung. Jisung melts into the hug, pressing his head against Renjun’s stomach. “We’re not fighting, there’s just something we have to talk about.”

Jisung looks at Jaemin, and Jaemin feels that pang of guilt even more. “When are you going to talk about it?”

Jaemin stands up from his chair too, goes to Jisung’s other side and pets the child on the head. “Later, after dinner.”

Jisung shakes his head fervently. “No!” He yells, jumping out of the chair and running away from them until he’s a couple of feet away from his bedroom door. “I’m done eating. I don’t want you guys fighting like my friends too. You can talk now.”

And with that, Jisung is gone into his room.

Jaemin looks at Renjun, all the soft fondness in his eyes are covered by the irritation in the crease of his brows. He probably deserves that. “Come here.”

Renjun grabs his arm and drags him to the kitchen, hopefully it’s far enough so Jisung doesn’t overhear their conversation. Jaemin allows himself to be pulled, and when they stop by the kitchen island, with Renjun’s arms over his chest, he braces himself for the impact of the consequences of his actions.

“What the hell is your problem, Jaemin?” Renjun begins in a whisper yell. “I noticed, Jisung noticed. Why the hell are you not communicating with me when we promised to tell each other everything, didn’t we?”

Jaemin locks his jaw, inhaling and exhaling. Why is Renjun so agitated? Half of this is because of Renjun!

“What? You’re the one who’s not communicating. You haven’t been communicating with me for so long. Is there something you want to tell me about _us,_ about Jisung?”

Renjun blinks at him, stupefied at the question. “What? What the fuck are you talking about?”

Jaemin massages the bridge of his nose. He never wanted this to become an argument, but with the tones of their voices, it seems like that’s going to end up happening even if he did his best to avoid it. “That time you got drunk, you told me that you missed drinking out with friends. You said that it was so fun and you missed it.”

God, he sounds so dramatic in his head. “And I was thinking if it’s something you always missed—if it’s something that Jisung and I took away from you when we got back together, when you became Jisung’s parent too. I… I understand that you were single for a while and you didn’t have to live with the responsibility of being a parent… which, you know, even though it’s painful—I understand.”

Renjun gasps at the revelation. “Jaemin—”

“No,” Jaemin raises his hand, wants to finish speaking while he’s still not crying, “then at the department store when you met Jiwoo. You introduced me as your boyfriend but you introduced Jisung as my son, which is correct—but it really felt like that solidified my fear that you didn’t want to be with us for the long haul. It’s so fucking petty, I know. That’s why I was taking my time to deal with it before I bring it up to you because I didn’t want to argue—but we’re arguing now.”

Renjun laughs bitterly, and when Jaemin lifts his eyes to look at him—he can see droplets of tears rolling down his cheeks.

_Fuck._

“Shit, Jaemin.” Renjun wipes his tears away with the back of his hand, inhaling through the waterworks. “Do you really think that lowly of me? Do you think that I’m the kind of person that would exchange the people I love for some drunken nights?”

“Renjun—” Jaemin feels guilty, feels stupid, feels as if he has overreacted.

“If you were going to eavesdrop conversations, you have to listen to the conversations entirely. I told Jiwoo that he’s your son, because _he is_. But you know what I told her after that? I told her that I treat Jisung like my own, I was proudly telling her how Jisung was calling me ‘baba’, I was bragging about Jisung making friends in second grade.”

Jaemin is trembling now, hand reaching out to hold Renjun as Renjun tries to control his breathing.

Jaemin does his best to not let his tears fall as he tugs Renjun to him. Although he hesitates, Renjun allows himself to be pulled forward towards Jaemin.

Jaemin pulls him into a hug, and with Renjun pressing his hands to his eyes to stop the tears from falling, Jaemin kisses the top of his head. “I’m sorry, Renjun… I’m so sorry—I’m so ashamed for ever doubting you. It’s just—I have this irrational fear of people hurting Jisung, and he loves you so much, I love you so much—I can’t imagine a home without you. My fear was irrational, I should have talked to you about it first.”

Renjun wipes his tears again, then pulls away slightly so he can look up at Jaemin. He hates that he’s making Renjun cry, but at the same time, he feels so relieved that Renjun is staying—that he’s here, that despite Jaemin overthinking and being irrational sometimes, he’s still here.

“But… that’s the thing about fear, isn’t it?” Renjun asks, lifting a hand to cup Jaemin’s cheek, “it’s irrational—it doesn’t make sense. I’m so sorry too for not reaching out to you earlier, I should’ve known better. I understand that you’re fearing things like this but… Jaemin, I promised to stay, didn’t I?”

Jaemin nods, he remembers all the promises made before they officially got back together. He remembers all the late night talks and all the soft, gentle reminders to each other.

They’ve both always known that getting back together wouldn’t be as simple as meeting someone and then dating them. They shared a long history together, a history that’s too winding and complex for even anyone to try and decipher—but that’s what brings them together and at the same time—that’s what makes their relationship not as easy as it seems, they always have to work hard for it.

Jaemin has the fear of Renjun leaving, and Renjun has the fear of not being enough. Each day is them working to help each other get over those fears, because at the end of the day, their love should be stronger than any of their fears.

Their love _is_ stronger than any of their fears.

“You did, you did—and I’m so sorry for even doubting you, for having one ounce of fear in me that you would leave us. I just… I don’t know… I really don’t know.”

Renjun takes Jaemin’s hands in his, effectively breaking the hug he has Renjun caged in. But that doesn’t really matter, before Renjun lifts up Jaemin’s hands and presses the gentlest kisses on them. So delicate and soft, it’s almost as if he’s treating him like the most precious thing in the entire world.

“It’s okay to have fears. Just promise me that the next time you have them, you’ll talk to me about it?”

Jaemin nods. “Promise. I promise not to wallow in my own insecurity.”

Renjun smiles against Jaemin’s knuckles, then, leans forward to press a kiss to the side of his lips. When he pulls away, Renjun says something that effectively washes away the rest of Jaemin’s fears. “Jaemin, I’ve been with you since the beginning and I swear to you I regret leaving everyday but I promise you I will never do it again. Not now, not _ever.”_

Jaemin smiles. “Stay forever?”

It’s a promise that’s shared between them for years now, something that started when they first dated but it’s a promise that has always been broken because of how life has treated them and thrown them in opposite directions. It’s a promise that takes years and tons of hard work to fulfil, but now that they are together—Jaemin knows one thing.

The world can be cruel, their fears can be big—but nothing in this world can be greater than the love they have for each other. Nothing in this world can be greater than the love they have for Jisung.

Renjun grins before he pulls him in a kiss, backing him against the kitchen island and kissing him senseless. It’ll be a lie to say that Jaemin didn’t miss that. “I’ll stay forever.”

When they tell Jisung that they’re finally getting him a cat, Jisung’s excitement shoots through the roof.

He ha been excited because his parents finally made up. They sit him down and explain to him that it was just something that they needed to talk about, and that there’s nothing to worry his little head about because his parents will always work it out. Jisung tells them that he’s confident that they will work it out, because adults always work it out. He’s just not so sure about his school friends though.

Renjun tells him that he’s already doing his best to get them to make up, but if his friends don’t want to talk then there’s nothing he can do about it. Saving the relationship between two people depends on the parties involved, and if neither one want to yield, then perhaps that’s the end of the relationship.

Despite Jisung being bummed out that he can’t do anything to make his friends start talking to each other (because, again, they’re not like his parents), he’s still in good spirits because Jaemin and Renjun are on speaking terms again.

They promise not to fight like that anymore, or at least, try not to make it so obvious with Jisung because they know there will be slight arguments that they may have. They’re keeping it open-ended.

So, when they tell him that they finally decided to get him a cat—Jisung’s good mood just skyrockets.

Before they told him about it, they’ve already gone to a shelter to make sure that Jisung won’t be disappointed if it ends up not working out. It’s been a painstaking process that has taken so much effort and time from both of them but it’s all worth it.

The big smile on Jisung’s face, him practically bounding up into their arms when they told him that they’re going to get his cat from the shelter that day. Jisung just can’t stay still.

They already bought furniture and food and toys for the cat, which Jisung has lovingly set by their kitchen—all they really need now is the cat itself.

The drive to the shelter is short, and Jisung exits the car first.

From the shotgun seat, Renjun grins at him. “God, we’re really getting a cat. Are you ready?”

Jaemin exhales as he undoes his seatbelt, shaking his head slightly. “Not sure if I’ll ever be ready. But let’s get it.”

Renjun laughs. “Why does this feel like we’re getting another kid and _not_ a cat?”

Jaemin blinks at that, a soft smile crossing his features as Renjun exits the car. He follows suit, locks the car and jogs all the way back to the other side of the car so that he’s with them.

“Hey.” Jaemin nudges Renjun, holding his hand as they go inside the shelter—Jisung already walking ahead of them excitedly.

“What?” Renjun asks, glancing up at him as they enter the shelter. They greet the people at the counter, who already recognize them and tells them that their cat is just being brought out now.

Jisung has found a seat by the benches, his knees bouncing excitedly as he gestures for his dads to sit right next to him.

Jaemin whispers to Renjun. “What do you think of Jisung having a sibling?”

Shocked by the suddenness of the question, Renjun throws a playful punch at Jaemin’s stomach. Jaemin reels, laughing to himself at Renjun’s reactions—finding it amusing.

He has thought of it sometimes, giving Jisung a sibling. Although Jisung has never really asked about it and is fine with being the only child, it’s just a thought that passes by sometimes. Jaemin is open to adoption, or through any other means of giving Jisung a sibling but it’s a joke… at least just for now.

“Can we learn how to take care of a cat first before we have that conversation? Plus,” Renjun says defiantly, crossing his arms and raising his brow at Jaemin, “you haven’t even asked my hand for marriage.”

Now, the tables have turned and it’s Jaemin that’s rendered surprised.

Before he can even retaliate, their cat is brought out from the cage and Jisung coos at it, jumping out of his chair as he asks the staff if he can pet the cat.

Jaemin and Renjun stand up from their seats, walking over next to Jisung and watching carefully as he pets the cat by its ears.

The cat purrs, pressing his head against Jisung’s hand. The absolute joy in Jisung’s face is priceless, and Jaemin knows that _this_ is the reason why he and Renjun wake up in the morning. Jisung’s happiness is his happiness, their happiness—and if this cat brings Jisung happiness, he doesn’t have any problems with it.

“What’s its name?” Jisung asks brightly, eyes wide open as the staff hands him the cat. Renjun is pulled away to the side by another staff member to sign some papers so that the cat can be released.

Jaemin reaches out to stroke the cat’s fur too. He remembers its name, Pocky.

“His name’s Pocky. But you can rename him, although we suggest using the name he’s used to since he responds to it really well.” The staff says as they put down the cat carrier.

Jisung makes a sound of interest, smiling down at Pocky as he nods. “I’m keeping the name. Pocky. Sounds good. Can we call him Pocky, appa?”

With a face like that, how can Jaemin ever say no to Jisung?

If not for Renjun, he’s sure that Jisung would have had 10 cats by now. He just _knows_ how to get to Jaemin.

“Of course, sweetheart. We can call him Pocky.” He says, patting Jisung on the head. “C’mon, let’s put him in the carrier so we can finally bring him home.”

Although hesitant, Jisung allows them to put Pocky into the carrier. He can’t help but wave at the cat as Jaemin lifts the carrier, Renjun finding them again after he has finished the last of paper work.

“Ready to go home with Pocky?” Renjun asks, hugging back as Jisung wraps his arms around him.

Jisung nods. “Yes! I’m going to take care of him so well!”

Jaemin smiles fondly, leading them back to the car. He remembers promising that to Renjun too, except it’s him holding Jisung as an infant.

The ride back home is loud, happy, all that Jaemin wants his family to be.

Days bleed into weeks and weeks into months, Jisung’s second grade has grown steadier. He doesn’t have as many problems with his friends, he still hangs out with Chenle a lot, still dances as a hobby and his grades are still doing well. Jisung has been dealing with his new environment very well and Jaemin can’t even begin to say how proud he’s been.

Renjun has been less busy with work. He makes it up with Jaemin not only with words but with actions too. He’s taking less time at work and admits that it’s been a toxic environment for him each time he does over time work. Jaemin tells him that it’s completely find if he needs to spend extra time at work, he just needs to make sure that he’s not overworking himself. Renjun is determined to not spend more time at work than he is needed to, though. Jaemin doesn’t stop him as it works on his favor.

As for him, his work has been busy. As life turns out, it’s his turn to be busy now. The chores that he can’t do because he’s too tired from work, Renjun fills in for him and really, he can’t be more grateful than he is.

Work has occupied his mind so often and so much that he has forgotten it’s his birthday.

If not for the early morning surprise, Jaemin would have forgotten it entirely.

This is how he remembers.

Jaemin turns around in bed, the side next to him that’s supposed to be filled with warmth from Renjun is cold—so he shoots up in bed in panic, thinking he has woken up late but when he pickes his phone up to check the time, it tells him that it’s just barely past six.

There are tons of notifications in his phone, which he ignores for the moment and tosses his phone back to the nightstand. It’s still too early.

Renjun’s probably outside, so Jaemin finds his way outside and frowns when their blackout curtains are drawn so no lights from outside are filtering inside. All their lights off too, the only light emitting from their room where Jaemin has emerged from.

He calls out in the darkness. “Guys, this isn’t funny—”

“Surprise! Happy birthday!”

The lights flicker open, an explosion is heard and confetti is showering down on him. It takes a second, two—before everything makes sense.

It’s his birthday.

And there, in the kitchen, are Renjun and Jisung still in their pajamas—a cake that’s obviously decorated by them and the confetti cannon still in Renjun’s hands as they beam at him.

“Oh my god,”

“Come here!” Renjun says, beckoning him over and Jaemin walks forward when he feels Pocky brush by his feet, running towards where Jisung and Renjun are.

“Happy birthday, appa!” Jisung greets him when he gets to where he is, tugging him down by his arm to place a big kiss on his cheek. “You’re old!”

“Thank you, sweetheart.” Jaemin laughs when he straightens up, still a little confused but happy and content nonetheless. He still has to go to work in a few hours, Renjun has to go to work too, but for now, none of that matters.

“Happy birthday, baby.” Renjun greets, pulling him up to his level to give him a quick kiss. Jisung belches at the sight playfully, giggling as he picks up Pocky from the floor.

“When did you guys make this cake?” He asks in awe, watching as the fire in the candles flicker.

“Earlier today! C’mon, blow your candles.”

“Make a wish, appa!” Jisung encourages as he hugs Pocky close to him.

Jaemin looks around him and to the candles flickering on the cake.

What can he even wish for? All he’ll ever need is here.

He closes his eyes, and makes a wish from the bottom of his heart.

 _I wish we stay together forever._

**Author's Note:**

> Happy birthday Jaemin! 
> 
> I'd like to thank Ri for allowing me to dive back into this verse that I love so very much! I hope that you liked this fic as much as you liked the earlier ones! 
> 
> Let me know what you guys think!


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